She who plants a garden, plants happiness
by meldahlie
Summary: Why does Lily want James to be quiet when he comes home?
1. Chapter 1

She who plants a garden plants happiness

~:~

Why does Lily want James to be quiet when he comes home?

~:~:~

James opened the front gate of the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow and at the same wonderful moment, the front door popped open too. James forgot his security question. "Hullo!"

Lily pressed a finger to her lips instantly. "Sssshhh!"

"What?" James hurried up the path. "Have you had trouble getting Harry to sleep?"

"No, not that at all!"

"Oh!" James remembered. "A security question!"

Lily waved this away. "Not that. Hush up and come on in!"

"But I ought to," said James stubbornly. "Give me a moment to think." He racked his brains. None of the Order of the Phoenix were using fixed security questions, as Dumbledore had said the chances of a Death Eater getting two random pieces of trivia right were much slimmer than torturing a fixed question out of someone. "Er – what really annoying thing did I do when we were seventeen?"

"Stopped asking me out every time you saw me," said Lily, looking nearly as put out as she had then. "Now come on in!"

James stood his ground. "And you ought to ask me one."

Lily looked at him. "Why did I marry you?"

"Lily! That's unanswerable!"

"Quite," said Lily firmly. "So shush!"

"But-"

At this point Lily administered a kiss as a form of Silencing charm and dragged him into the house.

"I took Harry out in the sunshine while I did some gardening," she whispered, hauling James steadily towards the back door. "And then Sirius came. He said you were worried sick about leaving Harry and I while you were off on an Order mission-"

"Thanks a bunch, Padfoot!" James broke out indignantly. "I only said-"

"Never mind what you said – Hush!" Lily opened the door. "You just _have_ to see! He helped me move a few buckets of weeds. Then he found that a bit strenuous, so he went to 'mind' Harry. And, well-" Lily giggled. "It seems they both found that a bit strenuous..." She pointed, and James stared.

On a blanket on the bench, curled in a ball in the sun fast asleep, lay Harry.

On a blanket in front of the bench, stretched out in the sun fast asleep, lay Padfoot.

~:~:~


	2. Chapter 2

A tree called Prongs?

~:~:~

 _A/N: Yes, another bit of James/Lily gardening fluff, this time for Father's Day!_

 _~:~:~_

"What-?!"

James Potter stopped abruptly in the kitchen doorway. Abrupt stops were a common feature of his life, admittedly, but he didn't think he had ever before stopped abruptly because his wife and son were smiling at him through the branches of a large tree in a pot on the kitchen table.

"Happy Father's Day!" Lily sang out.

"Haaah-Da! Haaah-Da!" Harry echoed, drumming his spoon on his chair tray for extra emphasis.

Lily stood up, ducked round the branches and walked over to James. "You look shocked, Daddy Dear," she said solemnly, pulling gently him into the kitchen by one hand. "Had you forgotten?"

"It's hard to forget something Sirius has been actively remembering since Mother's Day, but, er-" James tried to find the right words. "Er- have I forgotten that large forests are traditional? Or is this some muggle Father's Day thing?"

Lily giggled, and then reached up to plant a quick kiss on his cheek. "This is _our_ traditional Father's Day thing! For you and Harry and I. After the Hundred Honking Daffodils on Mother's Day, I remembered that there was a perfect tree for you. We can plant it this afternoon; and then one next year, and the year after that, and in the end there _will_ be a big Father's Day forest!"

She kissed him again – an action which lasted slightly longer this time, as James intercepted it _en route._

"The idea of planting a tree with you is tree-mendous," he teased, when they broke apart. Lily groaned. "But," James persisted, "I see two problems. One: Sirius will cock his leg on it. Two: why is it specially suited to me? It's a tree."

"Ree!" Harry put in. "Ree! Daah! Ree!"

"A Tree called Ree," James sing-songed back, bending down to pull a face at Harry through the tree.

"A Tree called Prongs," Lily corrected.

"Prongs?"

"Prongs. It's a Stag Horn Sumach, and –" Lily held up a silencing finger " – the reason it is really, really suited to you also solves the problem of why Sirius _won't_ do anything terrible and doggy on it. You see the fuzzy bark?"

"Like antler fuzz," James agreed, reaching for it.

"Don't touch," said Lily, smirking. "On initial surface contact, it's really really irritating!"

~:~:~


End file.
